Heat begins to build into the Finger Lakes

An impressive stretch of hot late September weather will kick off this weekend as temperatures begin to rise from already well above normal levels. [Photo by Meteorologist Drew Montreuil]

Even Warmer Weather This Weekend

The weather across the Finger Lakes has already been warm, not to mention sunny and bone dry. Temperatures are about to get even hotter, though.

For much of this extended dry period, temperatures have been above normal, but still relatively comfortable.

However, a new surge of heat and, yes, humidity will usher in a stretch of weather more like the middle of summer.

The temperature on Saturday will start to creep upward, with many places in the low and mid 80s this afternoon. The typically warmest areas in and around Rochester may see upper 80s today.

Sunday will add a few degrees to the temperature, with most areas in the mid 80s at least. Upper 80s will expand south into the Genessee Valley and east into Ontario county.

Dewpoints Saturday will still be tolerable with upper 50s and low 60s, but Sunday will start to get sticky with mid and even some upper 60s.

Of course, both Saturday and Sunday will be dominated by sunny skies and light winds with no chances for even a few drips of rain.

How hot will it get where you live? You can get the forecast for your zip-code by filling in the box below. Bookmark your page on all your devices so you can always get the best weather for the Finger Lakes. You can read more about these zip-code forecasts here.

Heat Wave Extends into Next Week

Near-record and well above normal temperatures will persist well into next week.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday should all be as hot or hotter than Sunday with widespread upper 80s and numerous places even reaching 90 degrees.

Dew points will remain elevated, pushing the heat index a few degrees higher than the actual temperature. This should make it feel like 90 degrees or more for most of the Finger Lakes, especially on Monday and Tuesday.

For many areas, daily record temperatures will fall during this stretch of weather. When considering the entirety of this hot weather, it is definitely an impressive feat to put this many well above normal days together in a row.

Autumn Delayed One Week

The delay in the onset of autumn will be limited to one week.

A cold front will sweep through the Finger Lakes early Thursday morning.

Unfortunately, this front continues to look very moisture starved, and it very well may move through with little to no rainfall.

The effects of the front will be immediate and significant, nonetheless.

Temperatures will crash behind the front, with highs Thursday in the mid 60s while Friday only reached the low 60s. At this time, next Saturday looks to be locked away in the 50s for highs.

Hurricane Maria is forecast to slowly move north before turning northeast away from the United States late next week. [National Hurricane Center]

How the FLX Impacts Hurricane Maria

Our weather pattern over the next week will have significant impacts on the path of Hurricane Maria.

Located Saturday morning east of the Bahamas, Maria is slowly tracking north.

The high pressure system over our region will act as a buffer against Maria and will keep the hurricane from jogging too far west.

A sharp turn to the northeast is expected by Maria late next week as the cold front that removes our heat picks up Maria and causes the storm to race away from the United States.

The models are in good consensus on this track, so there should be little threat of significant impacts from Maria in the United States.

Meteorologist Drew Montreuil has been forecasting the weather in the Finger Lakes region since 2006 and has degrees in meteorology from SUNY Oswego (B.S. with Honors) and Cornell (M.S.).
When not forecasting, he can be found working at the local library, making goat milk soap, running until his legs burn, or playing with his three young boys.